It shows that people with unlimited financial sources cannot bully the media as they see fit, and secondly, cannot be misused to dictate to the media on how to do its work.

Messrs Joe Singh and Peet Erasmus attempted to gain an interdict against the newspaper to prevent it from publishing reliable information that Eskom had laid charges of fraud against them.

The figure that was named amounted to R5-Billion.

In their application, Singh and Erasmus alleged that the Observer had not done a thorough investigation and were guilty of sloppy journalism.

What we find shocking is that the Middelburg Observer was prepared to hold back on publishing some of the information we received,  but nonetheless the court case proceeded.

The only conclusion we can come to is that Singh and Erasmus were so desperate to prevent the world from knowing about the investigation that they were prepared to go to the extreme  to silence our computers.

Advocate Kevin Hopkins accused the Observer of using dubious sources; that it did not approach Eskom for commentary and had done no investigating into the matter.

All this, while the newspaper had sent a journalist to Utrecht to gather information, had interviewed Eskom, approached several of Singh’s drivers and had utilised Police and other sources for information.

During their court application the Singh group no longer disputed that criminal charges had be laid against them, but only disputed that it was Eskom who laid these charges.

When the Middelburg Observer tendered further evidence to the effect that the charge had in fact been laid by Brigadier General Tebogo Rakau, head of Eskom investigations; they suddenly turned around and asked the court to order that the newspaper must first approach Eskom for comment, before publishing any reports.

In other words, that the media must be ordered by the court on how to do its job.

The application was opposed by the newspaper’s legal team, consisting of media law specialist Willem de Klerk and Advocate Nick Ferreira.

Eskom investigating Joe Singh

Judge Makgoka ruling in favour of the Middelburg Observer, with costs, is a great victory for press freedom and for journalists who have to work under extremely difficult situations.

The ruling tells Singh and Erasmus that no sword is going to hang over the heads of journalists when they do what journalists are expected and supposed to do – Investigate, interpret, evaluate, get comment and publish.  Perhaps the last word comes from the Middelburg Observer’s submission in their defence:

“Freedom of expression, especially when gauged in conjunction with its accompanying fundamental freedoms, is of the utmost importance in the kind of open and democratic society the Constitution has set as our aspirational norm.

Having regard to our recent past of thought control, censorship and enforced conformity to Governmental theories, freedom of expression – the free and open exchange of ideas – is no less important than it is in the United States of America.

It could actually be contended with much force that the public interest in the open market-place of ideas is all the more important to us in this country because of our democracy which is not yet firmly established and must feel its way.

Therefore we should be particularly astute to outlaw any form of thought-control, however respectably-dressed.”